New email for the production!

First, I have to report that the response to my script, The Lonely Goatherd, has been phenomenal. Actors and crew.

More importantly, we have a new production office email address: thelonelygoatherdmovie@hotmail.com. So our poor correspondent who has suffered from receiving our errant emails will suffer no more. Whew.

Right now we're working on getting The Whole Truth ready for meetings with distributors; we'll fly down to LA as soon as the film is as presentable as we can get it. It's a little long now, so editor Stephen Myers and I will streamline it over the next four or five days.

Composer Ragnar Rosinkranz' music is sensational - everyone loves it!

Between The Lonely Goatherd, The Whole Truth and our third screwball comedy project, Spare Change - I'm looking into various cloning methods!

Friends and friendships

My family moved 17 times by the time I was 17.

My father was in the Air Force, so I am what is deemed a "military brat."

As much as I learned from my thousands of "new kid" experiences, countless people I met and numerous schools I attended- to quote the ever-honest Eric Roberts, with whom I had breakfast one morning as we were preparing for his extraordinary work in my feature film The Whole Truth: "Whoa. That'll make you strange."

OK, I'd much rather consider myself, "unique."

One thing I cherished deeply along the way was friendships. I took them so much more seriously than the kids I met because they actually lived where they were. They knew they'd see their same friends the next day.

I knew our time was precious and I would not be there long. It was tough to leave because I tried so hard to feel like I belonged where ever we were, but was uprooted time and again.

At a very early age I realized that my "hometown" was and always will be where I am standing; where my heart is.

Which is why I have no childhood friends; I also have no awareness of having relatives beyond my immediate and small family. We moved so often I did not have the opportunity to get to know any of them with more than a passing glimpse.

Building a new and chosen family of people and pets has been a blessing.

Sorry for the verbosity - this is a very roundabout way of saying that I defined friends and friendships very early on as people who make me feel like I belong with them, and they belong with me.

It doesn't happen often. In fact, it happens very seldom. But when it does occur, it feels like New Year's eve. There's a little celebration that goes on in my heart. There's a sense of renewal.

As exciting as it is, there's also a sense of comfort, warmth and safety; like we're both better people when we're together or even thinking of one another. Over time, an authentic love develops. There's no pressure of time or deadlines or stress of performance. There is a feeling that we can be carefree without being careless; of being free without being thoughtless.

It is revered. Sacred.

And appreciated.

Well over eleven years, my best friend and I have developed a connection that has grown systematically over every day of all those weeks and months. For months at a time we emailed one another every day through times rough and rife with joy. We speak nearly weekly on Skype.

We're very different "types" of people but we always seem to have something to share or teach one another from a distance of many thousand miles. I live in Seattle, he lives in Manchester, England. I'm single with four pets - he's married with two daughters to whom he is devoted - one of whom is in college now.

In times of travail, we are the first - or among the first - people we call. His wife is more than happy to have him complain to me since he also does it with her and her "whine-0-meter" has a limit, and she knows he would never complain/whine/bitch and moan about her (he never has).

I visited him nearly two years ago for three weeks and had the most wonderful time evah! Go back far enough here and you can read the many blogs about my adventures in England, with tons of photos.

Coming from my background, it's not unusual for people to come and go. And for any number of reasons - one of which is attention. Relationships require time and attention. Generally more in the beginning, though if it's meant to be deep and rich and thrive it takes on a life of its own and fills both people with a contentment, gratification and fun that never ceases.

Friendships also feed my innovative nature - I'm a prolific creative machine whose passion for my work thrives in the company of true friends. I'm a person with few close friends, but they infuse me with energy, a joy of life and never ending inspired vision.

I'm in the midst of developing a new friendship that has all these qualities and more. Again, as exciting as it is, there is also a sensation of safety and satisfaction. Of compassion, non-judgement and acceptance.

Only history will show if it's meant to be another lifelong association.

I like to say I treat my friends like lovers (without the sex!), my lovers like friends. It just feels like the right way to show friends they are as valued as the ought to be in my life.

At last!

My computer has been in the shop getting its AC adapter connection repaired so I have been without access to my blog!

Traveling, writing, visiting relatives, writing, doing more post production work on THE WHOLE TRUTH and writing have pretty much taken my time.

I get to see one of our brilliant actors from TWT perform a lead role this Friday in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - the musical is playing nearby. I love the music and this actress, so it should be a great time.

Lots of folks are emailing me about getting work with us, but here's the scoop: it doesn't help to contact me or send me stuff. All crew are hired through the production office - you can email your credentials to -- an email address that can't be posted here because Blogger.com can't deal with similiar emails sent from a blog. The email with our address is similar to someone else's, so it automatically goes to that someone else. Strange. And inconvenient.

But! We have a website that we will be putting up soon http://thelonelygoatherd.com/ that will have all the information that cannot be posted on blogger.com.

Meanwhile, all actors are auditioned through Complete Casting in Seattle; Rick Pagano and Russell Boast handle all the lead actors auditions in LA.

The crew and actors with whom we will work are excellent. They don't take shortcuts, they're consummate professionals who understand it's the minute details that make all the difference.

The start date for shooting TLG has been pushed, but I'm taking this as an opportunity to do more extremely detailed pre-production work *and* to work out. I need to be in fantastic shape because this is a big film, which will require lots of outdoor hiking, moving, working with animals and all sorts of unexpected physical activities.

I'm actually having a pair of shoes made especially for me so my knees and ankles don't scream at me so much during the shoot, which is expected to last seven weeks. THE WHOLE TRUTH took six weeks.

Post production work continues on TWT, and it only gets better. I'm so so proud of the film, the crew and the actors. The final work - color correction, permanent sound lock, attaching the Heart Break Productionz banner as well as the special opening created for the film - will actually make it look up to 80% better than it does now, using the "low res" editing tapes.

Ragnar Rosinkranz' music is so special, fresh and effective - some scenes that could only be considered "very good" now POP. It's being added now.

After one more secret screening in a regular theater we've rented, we decide what else needs to be "fixed." After those fixes, which take very little time? We work on finishing the locked sounds - sound effects, music, evening the dialogue sound track, etc. That normally takes about three weeks. I won't have to sit in on every session, but for the first several days to get them going and then pop back in toward the end to approve what else is done until it's completed.

Final touches to the picture quality by our friends at Modern Digital post production? And we have ourselves a finished feature film.

I can hardly wait!

Meanwhile, I've outlined the third project we're shooting, SPARE CHANGE, which will be totally different from TLG, which is totally different from TWT.